New English paper appears in Amsterdam

10 March 2004

AMSTERDAM — The first edition of a new English-language paper Amsterdam Weekly appeared in outlets around the capital on Wednesday.

The brainchild of US journalist Todd Savage, the Weekly is aimed at a wide audience – expats and locals who are interested in well-written and creative features and observations about life in Amsterdam.

Unlike the Amsterdam Times which was launched in 2003, the new publication is not a ‘newspaper’ as such.

The Weekly draws its inspiration from such American publications as the Village Voice and the Chicago Reader.

Rather than short summaries of the ‘official’ news, the managing editor Richard Jurgens aims to allow his freelance writers uncover the real stories of everyday life.

The first issue explores the current fashion trend of trousers with low-cut seat to reveal more than a hint of what lies within.

Jurgens writes about flower seller Jan Visser who displays a new satirical poem about life in the city on a chalk board on his flower stall every week.

Former madam and impresario Xaviera Hollander – best known as the Happy Hooker – explains how California blues musician T-Bone Fisher ended up in Amsterdam.

The Weekly also contains a feature about TOOOL, the open organisation of lock pickers. Members of this unusual group meet to enjoy their mutual interest in picking locks. Toool describes itself as the “best-behaved sporting association in the Netherlands”.

The paper, which includes a listing section for events in Amsterdam, began arriving in bookstores, restaurants and cafes around Amsterdam on Wednesday afternoon.

Subject: Dutch news